Here is the link to Roy's video on how to use port tongs. I followed his instructions on the one occasion that I used tongs. It worked just fine. I did filter through cheese cloth to make sure there were no tiny shards in the wine.

Charcoal fire or an outdoor gas burner both work for heating Port tongs.

Regarding crumbly corks, I think the sugar in Port tends to make the cork stick to the bottleneck more than is the case with dry wine, so that a waiter's corkscrew or a screwpull ends up just boring a hole in the middle of the cork.

On old Port I wouldn't even think of using a normal screw - an Ah So will pull it by getting it unstuck from the glass without breaking the cork in half. Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

Bill Spohn wrote:Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

That's definitely true in my case. The only reason for using the tongs was that my friend had them. The cork would have come out just fine with a standard cork screw. Port tongs have only slightly more utility than a Champagne saber as far as I can tell.

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

I don't doubt that the tongs would be valuable to someone who opens older vintage Ports regularly. That's not me. I do love Port, but most of what I open is recently bottled Tawny. I do drink a VP now and then. The oldest Vintage Port I have opened is a 1984 model.

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

Bill Spohn wrote:On old Port I wouldn't even think of using a normal screw - an Ah So will pull it by getting it unstuck from the glass without breaking the cork in half. Port tongs are more about display than utility in 99% of the cases.

I've never gotten the hang of using an Ah So. Every time I try to use one, I end up pushing the cork into the bottle.

I do agree that port tongs are mainly for show. I also have a swan's feather for applying the ice water after using the tongs.

If the Ah So pushes the cork, remove it and use a normal corkscrew - it is loose. But if you push only one tang donw at a time, alternating, the chances of it pusing a cork are much reduced - you wiggle it down and pull the cork - much easier than a screw.

I don't doubt that the tongs would be valuable to someone who opens older vintage Ports regularly. That's not me. I do love Port, but most of what I open is recently bottled Tawny. I do drink a VP now and then. The oldest Vintage Port I have opened is a 1984 model.

Sam,

I own a few 63s, and many bottles from the 70s, '83 and '85 so the tongs seem like the right tool for me. Like Paul W. I struggle a bit with the ah so type.

My view is that firstly, port tongs are great fun, even to the point that I once made my own. Secondly, they really are invaluable when opening really old VP, such as 50+ years, for which the corks really tend to crumble and stick.

Heating is best done in an open fire or barbecue. A gas flame normally does not heat it evenly enough. If only the tongs are hot enough, a tight fit around the neck is not that crucial, since the iron radiates a good deal of heat anyway.

Just before X-mas I was experimenting with electric port tongs - an electric heating wire wound around the neck and heated to glowing. Worked nicely. I even made a portable, battery-operated version. Might post a picture of that here later. Don't have access to it right now.